SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NRF Annual Convention & EXPO -- Revel Systems (www.revelsystems.com), the leader in iPad point-of-sale solutions, today announced it has become the first iPad point-of-sale (POS) system to provide EMV compatibility (device that allows the new standard of Chip and pin to allow processing on a Point of Sale system) in the United States in anticipation of upcoming deadlines for EMV certification and PCI compliance that could potentially cost business owners thousands of dollars in fees and fines. With credit card fraud on the rise and standards set to change over the next few years, Revel Systems is leading the movement aimed at boosting security and global interoperability with integrated circuit (IC) cards and increasing the flexibility and customization that Revel's customers have come to expect for its retail, restaurant and grocery store iPad POS systems.

"The industry at large is faced with a major need to reduce credit card fraud and increase security. Revel Systems is the first to anticipate impending changes for industry standards for point-of-sale," said Revel's co-founder and CTO Chris Ciabarra. "Integrating directly with EMV readers is the logical next step for us to provide the most innovative technology solutions to our customers and also give them the surest and most secure means to reach EMV certification by the 2016 deadline. To kick things off, we're successfully up and running in the U.S. and Australia—a first for a tablet POS system."

While EMV has been a global standard for reading and using IC cards – also known as "chip and PIN" cards – with POS systems and ATMs in much of the world for some time now, it is new to the U.S. markets. This announcement by Revel Systems for direct POS integration with EMV-enabled products in the United States as well as Australia is a move that marks the initial steps of a plan to eventually integrate with all major EMV providers. Specifically, the company's integration into payment solutions includes providers Ingenico Group and Australia-based Quest Payment Systems, with VeriFone Systems, the Genius platform and Tyro Payments to follow soon. The company also plans EMV integration in the UK, the EU and Japan.

What Business Owners Should Know About EMV:Named for the integrated security chip and required user PIN number at the point of purchase, chip and PIN cards are considered a more secure payment processing method for both credit and debit cards than the magnetic swipe, which is currently the U.S. standard. Unlike magnetic swipes, chip and PIN cards cannot easily be hacked by computer codes, while the PIN number prevents employee theft and card-capturing fraud.

Until now, Revel Systems—like other tablet POS providers—required external hardware for EMV reading, which was slower and did not integrate directly into the POS. Now, however, Revel iPad POS system will speak directly with EMV devices, with reporting and tracking functions built directly into the Revel backend management console. "Direct integration can save over 5 seconds per transaction, which can equate to huge time and money savings for high-volume clients," Ciabarra added.

Important Deadlines to Remember:Visa, MasterCard and others have put together a list of dates and deadlines for the universal adoption requirements for U.S. vendors, as follows:

Effective 2016 – All MasterCard compatible ATMs will be required to be EMV compliant, and all merchants will be expected to have EMV terminals. Visa and MasterCard will be placing the burden of EMV implementation on the merchant, requiring all merchants to have EMV-enabled hardware by 2016, with hefty fines on all non-adopters that get hacked or have lapses in credit card security.

These new standards mandate that for as little as a few hundred dollars, merchants can invest in EMV-enabled systems that would completely remove the need for PCI compliance in businesses. Visa similarly announced that merchants processing 95 percent of transactions through chip and PIN readers by 2015 would no longer need to maintain PCI compliance. PCI compliance, the current credit card security standard for U.S. businesses, costs thousands of dollars a year, with very hefty fines on non-compliant merchants.

About Revel SystemsRevel Systems was founded in 2010 in San Francisco, CA with the goal of changing the POS market. Founders Lisa Falzone and Chris Ciabarra developed a quick, intuitive, and secure iOS based point-of-sale system by combining cloud-based technology and the mobility of the iPad. Revel recently released a grocery store ready iPad POS system to add to their award-winning restaurant and retail software. Revel Systems software offers a feature-rich Point of Sale solution with integrated payroll, inventory tracking, customer relationship management and more. With the introduction of the Revel Marketplace, Revel POS users can now even integrate directly into third party enhancements, such as mobile payments, online ordering, gift or reward cards and advance financial software suites. Contact us for more information on the future of commerce at www.revelsystems.com.